The future of Biometrics
Lunch break, time to get a nice sandwich from the corner shop down the street. As you enter the store and fill up with delight over the smell of fresh bread, something is not quite right and there you have it — you forgot your wallet at your desk and now there is no time to go back and get it. At this point you are hungry, irritated, stressed and simply cannot wait for the day to be over as you go back to your “beloved” desk. What if I told you all of this (and many more mishaps) could be avoided with the use of mobile biometrics.
With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 30%, the mobile biometrics market is estimated to become a $50B industry by 2022. The growing penetration of mobile devices and increasing number of mobile transactions are driving the growth of the market. Over the last few years, the number of online transactions and e-commerce has gradually gone up and has created a huge opportunity for companies to invest in the biometric industry to secure these transactions fees. A shift from traditional to smart commerce using biometric-enabled mobile devices would save time and provide high security for transactions.
So we are talking about fingerprint scans, right?
Wrong! Finger scan is evidently not the safest of authentication methods. As nice and reliable it is, it requires physical contact, making it also rather inconvenient and unhygienic. In addition, finger authentication is adversely affected by factors such as aging, scars, environment, dirt, etc. Lastly, due to the wide use of fingerprints by law enforcement, many users tend to stay away from such technology simply because of the stigma surrounding it. So, what else is there?
Both iris and vein pattern recognition systems have lower False Rejection and False Acceptance rates, but the latter’s application in everyday life is far wider and provides for a greater degree of comfort. Iris scans are usually performed from up to 2 meters away from the user and external factors such as eyelashes, lenses and reflections can also additionally complicate a successful scan.
Vein pattern recognition, huh?
We’ve heard about iris scans used at airports, but how can vein authentication or any other biometric be applied in everyday life?
So far only Nymi, a Canadian startup, succeeded in proposing a biometric solution for wearables, with a smart band monitoring the unique pattern of our heart beats. They actually raised $20M Series A from corporates including… MasterCard!
How about putting your vein imprint in a wearable module that creates a world where your watch is also your wallet, your key fob and your password manager?
Biowatch is a Swiss-based mobile biometric startup which produces wearable modules enabling remote vehicle and residence access, e-payments and other forms of authentication simply through vein pattern recognition. They’ve currently won the support of VISA, UBS, PSA Peugeot Citroen and other industry leaders. Whether or not Biowatch’ technology will make it to the mainstream is yet to be found.
What do you think is the future of authentication?
